Russian Gays Split Over Impending Gay Parade
Joanna Wypior - All Headline News Staff Reporter
Moscow, Russia (AHN) – Many in the Russian gay community have expressed concern over the upcoming Moscow Gay Parade - Russia’s first - believing the bold protest against intolerance might hurt the community more than help it. In recent weeks, Russian Right-wing and religious extremists have staged violent protests outside gay nightclubs and forced the cancellation of a cultural festival. "This gay parade is actually making our life much tougher," Moscow bookstore owner Ed Mishkin, tells CBS news. "This is the first time in my life actually that people are scared of being gay in Moscow." Moscow's mayor Yurv Luzhkov adamantly opposes holding the gay parade. Luzhkov said he would be banning the parade to protect gays and lesbians from potential violent protests. The Russian gay community responded that the notoriously conservative government simply wasn’t ready for such an event. The parade’s timing is on the 13th anniversary of the decriminalization of homosexuality in Russia by former president Boris Yeltsin, when during Soviet times, homosexual activity was illegal.
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